ICTR seeks return of genocide case to Rwanda court after death penalty abolition

[JURIST] The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) [official website] requested Monday that the case against Fulgence Kayishema [TrialWatch profile], who was indicted in absentia [indictment, PDF] in 2001 for his involvement in the 1994 Rwandan genocide [BBC backgrounder], be moved to a Rwandan court for trial. Kayishema, who was a police inspector during the war, has been charged with conspiring to exterminate Tutsis during the Hutu-led uprising, which left around 800,000 Tutsi and moderate Hutus dead. Monday's request is the first such request made by the ICTR, and it has stipulated that genocide suspects will only be transferred to Rwanda if the death penalty is abolished. The Rwanda government has said that it is ready to prosecute Kayishema, that he will received a fair trial, and that he will not be subjected to the death penalty. Last week the parliament of Rwanda voted to abolish the death penalty [JURIST report] effective July 1.

The ICTR has convicted 28 persons and acquitted three in connection with the civil war that swept through Rwanda [JURIST news archive] over a decade ago. AFP has more.

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